Thankerton man jailed for heroin hidden in bedroom

A Thankerton man was jailed for 16 months at Lanark Sheriff Court on Thursday despite claiming he was duped into having heroin with a street value of £21,000 in his bedroom.

Appearing from custody for sentence, 24-year-old Michael Coyle had earlier admitted having 243 grammes of the Class A drug at his home at Muirhouse Lodge in February of last year with intent to supply it to others.

The court heard that the discovery of the haul in a sports bag under his bed by police had been purely by chance. Armed with a warrant, officers had been searching Coyle’s home on a relatively far more minor matter - the suspected reset of a karaoke machine - when they came across the haul.

On Thursday his solicitor made a lengthy plea in mitigation, claiming that his client had become friendly with a girl from Glasgow’s East End and she had got him involved in the drugs scene.

Coyle, he said, had been “duped” into “looking after” the bag of drugs without knowing exactly what form of illegal substance was involved.

The solicitor went on the say that, despite his guilty plea, Colye never intended to deal in the drugs himself. Indeed, added the solicitor, Coyle had absolutely no previous conviction for drugs offences.

However, Sheriff Nikola Stewart said that she was unconvinced that Coyle was ignorant of what he was involved in.

Commenting on the plea in mitigation, she said: “He hid a Class A drug under his bed; he involved himself in a shameful occupation. He knew he was involved in criminality.”

She said that there was absolutely no alternative to a jail sentence in a case like this.